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The Internet has transformed modern life and continues to grow at an
astonishing rate - ITU estimates that, by the start of 2008, there
were 1.3 billion Internet users worldwide, with one in every five
people accessing the Internet. And yet, this strong growth in
Internet access has been accompanied by a proliferation in cyberthreats
and the risks of venturing online.
Cyberthreats now arise anywhere, at any time, causing immense damage
in a very short space of time. Cyberthreats are increasingly
sophisticated – from the nuisance of spam, to more dangerous malware
perpetrating theft of identity and assets, to full-scale coordinated
attacks using networks of hijacked computers to destroy a company’s
commercial reputation or disable a state’s critical infrastructure in
new forms of information warfare. It is increasingly difficult to
protect end-users, especially more vulnerable users online such as
children, from the growing risks associated with online access.
Further, criminals themselves now operate in organized syndicates
that reap substantial illegal gains from their clandestine operations.
Entire black economies have built up, run by gangs with no regard for
law or jurisdiction, making it increasingly difficult for law
enforcement authorities to keep up with them through cross-border
cooperation. No country is safe – cybercriminals strike at will, and
anonymously. Such far-reaching challenges posed by these new and greater
cyberthreats can only be addressed at the global level.
The World Summit
on the Information Society (WSIS) recognized the real and
significant threats posed by cybercrime. At the WSIS, world leaders,
governments and policy-makers entrusted ITU with facilitating the
implementation of WSIS Action Line C5, “Building confidence and
security in the use of ICTs”. Only by building confidence and protecting
Internet users in their exchanges and transactions can the true
potential of the Information Society be fully realized.
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